by Nathan Boddy
It’s been nine years since O’Hara Commons begin their Wednesday Farmers Market across the street from the Bitterroot Public Library, and from the looks of things on June 5th, the market was having no problem swinging back into action for the 2024 summer season with many of its ‘anchor’ vendors in place, such as Bee Happy Honey Farm, Ellen & Ian, Aspen Grove, House of Ferments, Odd Fellows Bakery, Blue Coyote Farm and Verdure Pastures.
According to Samantha O’Byrne, founder and Executive Director of O’Hara Commons, the open-air market, which runs from June until September each year, serves to augment the “year round local food market” that the O’Hara Commons offers to the public via an online portal. With that service, O’Hara Commons is able to offer the agricultural goods of approximately 65 different growers to the public throughout much of the year. The Wednesday Farmers Market allows some of those vendors to offer their products face to face with the public, a fact which O’Byrne says compliments the mission of O’Hara Commons.
“We are really focused on improving access to local food for all community members,” she said.
That sentiment is listed as the first element within the O’Hara Commons’ vision. Included also are aims to “strengthen our local food system and economy,” and “develop food-based partnerships and programs.” Proving that these visions are being pursued, O’Byrne also pointed out that most of the vendors involved in the market are food/ agricultural based.
But while food access is the primary goal of O’Hara Commons, this year will also include two rotating positions each week which will be filled by an artist and a local non-profit respectively. Those positions are provided to their occupants at no cost, and have already been spoken for for the duration of the season. Furthermore, the market will continue to host a musical guest each week, the cost of which will be borne by the market’s sponsorship program. These collective steps are those which O’Byrne says are ways to support local efforts and talents.
The Wednesday market at O’Hara Commons is not the only place for valley residents to access local food and goods, however, as the Saturday Hamilton Farmers Market takes place just two blocks from the O’Hara event. This does not strike O’Byrne as duplicative, however, and she described the availability of two events as a positive for valley consumers.
According to O’Byrne, Laura Craig, who was instrumental in founding the Hamilton Farmers Market, actually approached O’Hara Commons after concluding that a mid-week option for sourcing locally produced goods was not only viable, but desirable by consumers.
“She helped us lift the market up off the ground at the beginning,” said O’Byrne.
And while the Wednesday market may now have expanded ever so slightly beyond just food, O’Byrne says that the people who tend to come to the mid-week market are very focused and taking advantage of the opportunity to fill their needs. This symbiotic relationship works for vendors as well, since it gives them an additional chance to sell.
“By June, our vendors are really in the thick of harvest,” she said, “so this is a great outlet for them.”
O’Hara Commons is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and provides a variety of programs centered on food availability. Their ‘year round’ farmers market is also able to accept payment in the form of SNAP dollars (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program of the USDA) as well as senior coupons. Furthermore, O’Hara Commons maintains a partnership with CFAC (Community Food and Agricultural Coalition) which allows them to offer a matching program for buyers who use SNAP dollars to purchase local food. Under this program, O’Hara Commons is able to provide coupons for $30 worth of value on qualifying foods after a participant has purchased $30 worth.
Organizations such as O’Hara Commons and CFAC represent actors in a wide ranging network of entities whose missions include things such as: preservation of agricultural landscapes, continued access to healthy food for consumers, and even shortening supply chains and dependency on distant sources for food. Locally grown food has the added benefit of helping dollars remain in the local economy.
O’Byrne would also like to remind folks to be on the lookout on Wednesdays, July 10th and August 7th, when the Wednesday Farmers Market will expand beyond its normal parameters, closing the adjacent street to become a “Street Fair.” O’Byrne says that these larger events are done to acknowledge the community side of farmers markets, and on past dates have drawn between six and eight hundred visitors.
Apart from being a good way to source food, the markets hosted by O’Hara Commons are very clearly a comfortable social outlet as well, as indicated by one visitor on Wednesday afternoon who passed by Samantha O’Byrne to thank her for “hosting the party.”
O’Byrne acknowledged the sentiment. “That is how we achieve our mission of increasing equitable access to local food year-round for all community members.”